Disclaimer: stephenie meyers owns twilight. -sigh-
I drove rather quickly to school, checking my clock every few minutes to make sure I wouldn't be late. To my surprise, there weren't many people in the school parking lot when I arrived. I took a spot closest to the school, hoping it would help me get to Edward faster after school.
I grabbed my backpack and carefully lowered myself out of my truck. When I got to the ground, I looked around to see if there were any hints of clouds coming. Maybe Edward could come to school late if it became cloudier. I sighed when I realized he wouldn't have acted the way he had this morning if Alice had seen that in a vision. When I looked around, I realized something was different. The feel of the school seemed colder, less inviting when Edward wasn't there. I shivered coldly once and trudged towards the school.
About halfway there, I saw something in my peripheral vision that caught my eye. Something sleek and black. I looked over to find Jacob Black leaning against his sleek black Harley, smiling at me. Although I was confused, I smiled at him and walked over.
"Hey Bells!" he greeted, st
anding away from the bike.
"Jake! I haven't seen you in so long! How are you?" I asked, unable to mask my excitement as he brought me into a bear hug. "Jake… can't… breathe…" I choked out. He chuckled and let me go.
"Right, you need to breathe," he said, sounding uncharacteristically like Edward. "But I'm good. Where's your leech? Drinking blood?" he scoffed, but careful to keep his voice low enough so none of my fellow classmates who were just arriving could hear.
"Jake, I wish you wouldn't do that. It's not fair. But no, he's not. He won't be here today," I said, trying to keep the reason he wasn't here to myself.
"Perfect," he smiled. His smile reminded me so much of his old self. When there were just two friends hanging out, drinking warm soda from a bag. I sighed at the memories but convinced myself – easily – that the way things used to be meant that Edward wasn't around. There was no way that was better than how things are now.
"Why are you here Jake?" I asked, reminding myself of my own confusion.
"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out later, you know for the old times. We have a new pack member who is… surprised but your story. I think he wants to meet you," he blushed – which was rare – and looked down.
"Oh, Jake. That would be… great. But I think Edward and I have plans," I said, feeling guilty.
"Oh, c'mon Bells. You're always with him. Just once wouldn't you want to spend a little time with me? I have a reason this time, and you wouldn't have to tell him. He'd never let you out if you asked him."
"Jake…I…" other than Edward, I realized I had no other reasons.
"See? Can't you just come once? It'll be fun. Embry and Quil haven't seen you in a long time and I haven't either. Just once. Please, Bella," he practically begged, looking up at me with pleading eyes.
"I'm going to feel really bad about this…"
"Finally! It's about time you got away from that bloo—" he began to cheer, but I cut him off.
"You need to start making some effort, Jacob. It can only help," I hinted, hoping he would listen for once.
"Sure, sure," he replied, smiling. "Want me to come pick you up after school?"
"Don't you have school, Jake?"
"Yeah, but Billy was gonna get me out early anyway. The pack needs to talk to this new guy, Koda," he explained. "Koda? Did he just show up?" I asked, normally didn't the pack didn't just randomly allow people to come in.
"Yeah, listen, you gotta go. I'll explain later. See you after," Jake said, waving as he hopped on his bike. He revved the engine and took off before I could respond. It took me until I heard the sound of the first bell ring to snap out of the trance I was in. While I rushed into school praying I wouldn't be late, I was thinking of ways to tell Edward of my plans. I'm sure Alice already saw my future disappear by now so maybe I wouldn't have to lie to him.
I had successfully gotten to first hour on time and made it through the first few hours of school without a flaw. It was boring and extremely hard without Edward, but I kept my mind distracted with Jacob, this new pack member, and telling Edward my plans.
On my way to lunch I felt off. Not having Edward next to me on the way there was weird enough, but the whole way I felt like someone was watching me. When I passed the office building to get to the cafeteria I heard someone call my name.
I turned around to find Mrs. Cope waving her arms at me to come over. I felt my eyebrows pull together as I walked towards the office.
"Oh, Bella, I thought I was going to chase after you!" scolded the out of breath secretary. Once she caught her breath she continued, "Your father called to get you out of school early, he's in the parking lot waiting for you now."
"Oh… thank you Mrs. Cope," I said, still confused. Charlie would clearly never come to school, would he? It was probably Jake trying to get me out early. I smiled at the idea, not having to go through the rest of school.
When I got out to the parking lot I expected to find Jacob leaning against his motorcycle, or maybe his Rabbit. Instead - to my surprise - was my best dream and my worst nightmare.
A shiny, silver Volvo.
A/N: yayyy. dramamama :)
reviews, please?